St. Landry democrat., 1887-01-15

the branches of a convenient tree, and
then hunted about until we found
places for my two companions on paths
which were beaten hard under the feet
OF thousands of animals. 1t was in the
dry season, and the pond was low.
therefore it might be expected that the
pool wolld be sought out by animals
from great distance. Nothing of ac-
count came to it in the daytime, as ex-
perlenco had taught us. It is only after
shutdown that elephants, the rhinoceros,
lions, tigers, panthers and such beasts
approach pool to drink, especially if it
is in hidden place. No doubt some of
them may 90 two or three days without
water, hut the hunter who takes his
! stand at pool is always certain Of big
| game Of some sort.
We set out for our stations about an
hour before shutdown, each of us hay
ing a native attendant to remain
through the night. just before we
reached the pool, and while my man
was trotting along q few feet ahead of
me, a jaguar leaped down upon him
from a limb with loud scream. The
| beast rather Oycrshot his mark, but
claWed the mans shoulder severely.
| The native uttered shouts Of terror,
and l fired a shot which missed the
beast, and he licked his chops at me in
savage manner and bounded away.
The man could not 90 on with me. He
was severely hurt and in great pain,
and | told him to run back to the vii
lage for treatment and send out
another man. He was off at once, and
L kept the path until reaching the pool,
and then lost no time in ascending to
the scaffdld. l had heavy rifle and
plenty of cartridges, and in my belt
the hunting knife usually carried. 1t
was only when ready to ascend the
platform that I discovered the absence
of my pair Of Colts with their powder
and bullets. Those things had been
intrusted to my servant, and he had
been in such hurry to return to the
village that he had carried them off
with him. Just then, however, the
loss of the pistols did not seem Of much
account to me. | climbed the platform,
pulled my gun up after me, and pretty
soon began to listen for the halloo of
the man who would be sent out to stay !
with me. I had reason to expect him
before shutdown, for the distance was
not great, and the natives move rap
tI1Jr nj !, h., Il
appeared, the shadows of evening fell, |
and [ heard nothing of him. | knew
thea that he would not como at all, as
it would be risking his life 70 enter the
jungle after shutdown.
The pool was IN the center of clear
ed space about half an acre in extent. |
and the ground was uneven. As there
was no such thing as creek or riyulet
in the neighborhood, the pool must
have been formed by spring which
dubbed up among the rocks. Darkness
had scarcely come when the moon
came up to make the cleared space al
most as light as day, and about the
same time the wild beasts began to
move about. / could hear them snarl-
ing and growing on all sides, and To-
Gated a jaguar in a tree not far removed
from mine by his continual snarling at
in the jungle. I moved
about to get better look, and suddenly
lost my grasp on the gun, and had the
of hearing it strike the
ground below with heavy crash. Ny
idea was to get possession of it again as
soon as possible, and [ had descended at
least half way when there was snarl
from the roots of the tree which brought
ny hair on end. recognized the pres
ence of a tiger, who might have been
waiting there for five minutes for all I
Knew. AS l hurried back to my perch
heard his sharp claws tearing at the
bark, and I was truly thankful for the
that he could not climb. As
reached my perch drew my knife as
he only weapon left me, and the tiger,
ceiling that had escaped him for the
walked out into the bright
moonlight with deliberate step, looked
Up at me with low growl, and then
TODD at the edge of the pool and lap
'ed the water. He was engaged at
his when I heard loud ''woof!' from
he jungle, and the next instant rhi-
loceros broke cover and came charg- ;
ng at the tiger with a rush that would
AVE knocked down stone wall. His :
Movement proved that he was bad ,
hinoceros, and it was probably this
elbow who had annoyed and excited =
he jaguar. ...... =
The tiger had warning enough as the ,
ig beast came across the open, and he !
TODD in his tracks until I thought he J
-ould be run down before he moved
Dot. Then he lightly sprang aside, t
nd the rhinoceros crashed into the I
DOL, out on the other side, and came !